Elon Musk sparks controversy with far-right gestures, attacks on German Chancellor Scholz at Davos; EU probes X for content moderation breaches amid rising tensions.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday he does not support freedom of speech when it is used for extreme-right views, a day after a hand gesture by U.S. billionaire Elon Musk caused uproar during Donald Trump's inauguration festivities.
"We have the freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany. Everyone can say what he wants, even if he is a billionaire. And what we do not accept is if this is supporting extreme-right positions," Scholz said in Davos when asked about the incident.
Musk's hand gesture during a celebration of President Trump's inauguration drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute. Musk dismissed the criticism as a "tired" attack.
"Shame on Oaf Schitz," Musk posted on X, the platform he owns, on Tuesday with a video clip shared by another user that showed Scholz speaking at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort. "Schitz" has no meaning in German.
Musk has previously attacked Scholz on X, calling him an "incompetent fool" who should resign after a deadly attack at a German Christmas market.
He has also used the platform formerly known as Twitter to signal his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of elections scheduled for next month.
Musk's repeated endorsement of the AfD, the party that has embraced the Trump administration most among German parties, has drawn ire in Berlin, but the German government has stopped short of unanimously leaving his platform.
The European Commission said this month that it was stepping up its investigation into whether X breached European Union rules on content moderation.
Musk's hosting of AfD leader Alice Weidel for a discussion on X this month was watched by the European Commission to check for any spreading of misinformation.
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Israeli military bulldozers have begun demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, 23 October, following armed clashes with Palestinians that left two Israeli soldiers dead, according to the Israeli military.
Around 11,000 people joined a demonstration in Orléans on Saturday against the National Rally congress, according to the local prefecture.
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday described a deadly shooting in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, west of Paris, as a racist attack and ‘a turning point’ for the country.
Missile and drone attacks have put Saudi Arabia on high alert, disrupting life in Riyadh and testing a new defence pact with Türkiye and Pakistan as regional tensions escalate.
Protests against war and rising living costs took place in major Italian cities on Saturday, with some incidents of violence and clashes, a week after unrest erupted across the country.
Bulgarians are voting in a presidential election on Sunday as deadly drone attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea raise security concerns and expose divisions over the country's response to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Serbia is voting on Sunday as a mass student protest movement seeks to unseat long-time populist leader Aleksandar Vučić in the biggest challenge to his rule for more than a decade.
Portuguese police cleared a housing protest camp in Lisbon on Sunday (25 October), as new figures reveal house prices have risen 16.5 per cent in a year, the fastest increase in the European Union.
Six people were killed and another was seriously injured when a passenger train collided with a minibus at a railway crossing in Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region on 24 October, local authorities said.
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